Dear Readers, Stephen McDaniel is nothing short of evil. He has pleaded guilty to the gruesome murder of Lauren Giddings, hacking her up like livestock and strewing body parts around. None of us can know what drove him to commit such despicable acts – and, then, talk live to local news outlets as if nothing had happened.
Media reports suggest that Lauren’s family entered into a consent judgment as to McDaniel’s civil responsibility for her death, as a condition to his guilty plea on the murde...

Dear Readers,Just a week over 50 years ago today, the United States Supreme Court issued one of its most enduring keystone free speech decisions, New York Times v. Sullivan. The very foundation of our right to a free press stands in ironic relief of what is currently going on in Crimea today, as Russian Press outlets have stamped out any dissent in Crimea.
Historically, news reporting was a "propaganda rag" reflecting the political whims of owners and publishers. The "Federalist Papers" were, i...

Dear Readers,The drumbeat to alter our national drug policy is growing. The Justice Department, with the approval of an iconoclast like Sen. Rand Paul, continues to seek lower penalties for some drug convictions, to slow incarceration rates for low-level "mules" and drug dealers.
At the state level, the movement to liberalize our approach to marijuana continues apace. Georgia, for example, is considering approving marijuana use for medicinal purposes. But, there is a broader trend, deeper and m...

Dear Readers,Our world keeps shrinking. We communicate instantly with people halfway around the world, using chat apps and IM to learn about life "over there." Revolutions are fueled by ubiquitous communication, as (other than in North Korea) tyrants are essentially impotent to stem the tide of knowledge.
There is, however, a seedy side to our smaller world. As our ability to communicate expands, so do the tools of spying.We know this from the WikiLeaks controversy, as we (and world leaders) le...

Dear Readers,There is a myth burned into the psyche of anyone other than a family attorney – father's don't win custody battles. Thisis just not the case. In fact, I'd venture to guess, at least in my practice, fathers stand better than a 50/50 chance of winning a custody fight.
This might be a matter of self-selection. What I mean by this is that maybe dads don't take marginal cases to a final hearing. Regardless, a dad being awarded custody of his kids is far from a rare event. Yet, everyone ...

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